Tuesday, September 05, 2006

I'm back from the Toronto comic con (whose official name is Fan Expo Canada 2006). I was there for the 3 days and I traveled with Sirkowski (artist on Miss Dynamite).

It was my 3rd year there and it will be my last. Unless something really drastic change. I usually go there with copies of my Veena comic book and some of my art hoping to make some sales and get in touch with some readers. Unfortunately, it seem the con is not designed to work that way. I was there as a Guest. It mean I do not pay to get there and depending on where you are on the totem pole, some or all of your expenses are paid. If you are a tv or movie actor, even a voice actor, you get a fee to even be there. If you work for Marvel or DC on a popular book, travel and lodging is cared for. Otherwise, if like me you are defined as an "indie artist", you're left alone. I'm not really complaining here that I'm not famous and all that shit. I'm just annoyed that the whole con has taken the route of adding so much diversions like toys, movie, and multimedia that just being a real live artist willing to chat and meet readers is not interesting enough. In fact, most of the foot traffic does not even seem to be made of comic readers.Eventually, I think I should go to other cons like Paradise or that one I'm told that the Beguiling is organizing. I'm a bit removed from all the turf wars that apparently happened between HobbyStar and Paradise, but it's probable that all the comic readers and interesting artists moved there. Gone are the nice artists I met like Kean or the Flight crew, and gone are the studios like Dreamwave or Mirage. That last studio I met last year, and that's how I got the Turtle art gig. Some of that art attracted attention when people were looking thru my portfolio. That underline even more the fact that it's a very mainstream, commercial convention, and that you need to work on a recognizable franchise to be noticed.

Good points: some of the artists I met like Ghastly from Ghastly Comic , Paul D. Storrie, Sulley Fattah, Larry Handcock, Michael Chan of Anime Iku and a few others !

About moi.

I'm an illustrator working in comics, books and magazines illustration and animation design. I've been doing that for the last 20 years professionally (more if I count my teen years in fanzines..). All cartoonists have a character that has followed them. Mine is Veena. You can read all her stories here and buy the books here. My style has been described as a mix of Russ Manning, early Marvel comics and Metal Hurlant's brand of ligne claire.